Bolton, the cotton town

Bolton is one of the great cotton towns of Lancashire, now part of Greater Manchester, at the foot of the West Pennine Moors. With about 195,000 people in its urban area and almost 300,000 in the whole borough, it is one of the largest places in England without city status. Here an ingenious weaver invented the machine that revolutionised cotton spinning, here the founder of one of the world's largest industrial empires, the soap king William Lever, was born, and here stands one of England's oldest pubs, where an earl was held before his execution in the 17th century. Bolton has a grand Victorian town hall, a museum with a surprising Egyptian collection and, minutes from the centre, hills and gardens perfect for a day outdoors.

Trains from Manchester take about twenty minutes, and Manchester Airport is about half an hour away.

Cotton and the mule

In the Middle Ages Bolton was a market town where wool was woven, and in the 16th century Flemish weavers settled here. In 1779 Samuel Crompton, a young weaver who lived in an old timber-framed manor house, Hall i' th' Wood, invented the spinning mule, so called because it combined the ideas of two earlier machines, as a mule combines a horse and a donkey. The machine could produce fine, strong cotton thread in large quantities and became the basis of the world's cotton industry. Crompton, who was unable to patent it, earned very little from his invention.

In the 19th century Bolton became one of the capitals of cotton, with more than two hundred mills and tall chimneys dominating the valley. The mills closed during the 20th century, but many large red-brick buildings survive, converted into flats, offices and shops.

The Bolton Massacre and the Earl of Derby

During the Civil War of the 17th century, Bolton, a Puritan town loyal to Parliament, was stormed in May 1644 by the Royalist troops of Prince Rupert and the Earl of Derby. Hundreds of townspeople and soldiers were killed in what is remembered as the Bolton Massacre. Seven years later, in 1651, the Earl of Derby, captured after the Royalist defeat, was brought back to Bolton to be executed. According to tradition he spent his last hours in the Old Man and Scythe, an inn mentioned as early as 1251 and still open today on Churchgate, where the chair in which he is said to have awaited his execution is kept.

What to see in Bolton

The town hall and Le Mans Crescent

Bolton's centre is dominated by the great Town Hall, opened in 1873 by the Prince of Wales, a neoclassical building with a columned portico like a Greek temple and a tall clock tower. Behind it, Le Mans Crescent, completed in 1939 and later named after the twinned French city, is an elegant curve of stone public buildings housing the museum, the library and the court. The square in front of the town hall, Victoria Square, is the heart of town life.

Bolton Museum

Bolton Museum, free to enter, has one of the most important Egyptian collections in the United Kingdom outside London, built up thanks to a family of cotton manufacturers who funded excavations in Egypt in the early 20th century. Its most spectacular exhibit is a full-size reconstruction of the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose III, with painted walls and sarcophagus. The museum also has natural history, art and local history galleries, and a small aquarium.

Hall i' th' Wood and Smithills Hall

Hall i' th' Wood, the 16th-century timber-framed house where Samuel Crompton invented his machine, is now a museum with period rooms and a replica of the spinning mule. North-west of the town, Smithills Hall is one of the best-preserved medieval manor houses in the north-west, with a great hall of the 14th century, a chapel and a park. Tradition says that the print of a foot can still be seen on its stone floor, left by George Marsh, a Protestant preacher questioned here in 1555 and later burned at the stake.

The centre and the markets

Bolton Market, in a renovated Victorian building, is one of the most award-winning covered markets in England, with street-food stalls, fish, meat and Lancashire produce. The Octagon theatre, with its hexagonal plan, is one of Britain's most innovative regional theatres. In front of the parish church, where Samuel Crompton is buried, stands a statue of the famous Fred Dibnah, the daring chimney-felling steeplejack and steam enthusiast who became a British television star.

The mills and Bolton Steam Museum

To understand cotton-era Bolton, just look at the skyline: among the houses rise the great red-brick mills of the early 20th century, such as Swan Lane Mills, for a long time among the largest spinning mills in the world, with decorated towers and company names spelled out in white brick on the chimneys. On certain days of the year Bolton Steam Museum opens, run by volunteers in a former mill, holding one of the richest collections of mill steam engines in England: gigantic flywheels and pistons that once drove thousands of spindles and are set running again for visitors.

William Lever and the Rivington hills

William Lever was born in Bolton in 1851; with his brother he founded the Sunlight soap company, which grew into the multinational Unilever. Having become extremely rich, Lord Leverhulme gave his home town a large park on the Rivington hills to the north-west: Lever Park, with a replica of the ruins of Liverpool Castle, and the Rivington Terraced Gardens, terraced gardens with pergolas, bridges, ponds and a pigeon tower, now restored and open to walkers among the woods. From nearby Rivington Pike, a stone tower on a hill, the view stretches across Lancashire to the sea and, on clear days, to the mountains of Wales.

The moors on the doorstep

One of Bolton's surprises is how close nature is: in less than half an hour from the centre you reach the West Pennine Moors, an upland of heather, peat bogs and pasture dotted with reservoirs built in the 19th century for the mills and industrial towns. From the village of Belmont a path climbs to the top of Winter Hill, at about 450 metres, where the television mast stands and from where, on clear days, you can see Manchester, the coast at Blackpool and even the Lake District. Other easy walks follow the shores of the Entwistle and Wayoh reservoirs, among woods and little stone bridges.

Churchgate and the parish church

The town's oldest street is Churchgate, home to the Old Man and Scythe and the large parish church of St Peter, rebuilt in Gothic Revival style in the 1860s on the site of much older churches, with a tower more than fifty metres high and fragments of Anglo-Saxon crosses found during the works.

A day in Bolton

A possible itinerary: the morning at Bolton Museum for the Egyptian tomb, then a walk around the town hall, Le Mans Crescent and the covered market, with lunch among the stalls. In the afternoon visit Hall i' th' Wood or Smithills Hall, or drive to Rivington for the terraced gardens and the climb to Rivington Pike. In the evening see a show at the Octagon or have a pint at the Old Man and Scythe.

Eating and drinking

Bolton's food is Lancashire food: Lancashire hotpot, a lamb and onion stew topped with sliced potatoes and slowly baked in the oven, crumbly and creamy Lancashire cheese, black pudding from nearby Bury and a purely local speciality, the pasty barm, a meat and potato pasty served inside a soft bread roll. The covered market is the best place to try local produce, while the historic pubs of the centre and the surrounding villages serve beers from Lancashire breweries. Thanks to the Indian community, the town also has excellent Gujarati and Punjabi restaurants.

Events

Every year, on the late August bank holiday weekend, the Bolton Food and Drink Festival fills the centre with stalls, celebrity chefs cooking live, music and tastings, and is one of the largest food festivals in the United Kingdom. For many years Bolton also hosted Ironman UK, one of the toughest triathlons in Europe, with the bike course in the hills and the finish in front of the town hall. In autumn the Indian community celebrates Diwali with lights and shows, and in summer the parks host concerts and fairs.

Sport and famous people

Bolton Wanderers, founded in 1874, is one of the twelve founding clubs of the Football League. In 1923 it won the first FA Cup final played at Wembley, the famous "White Horse Final", in which a mounted policeman managed to clear the pitch invaded by an enormous crowd, and it won the cup again in 1926, 1929 and 1958. Its greatest player was Nat Lofthouse, the "Lion of Vienna", who has a statue outside the stadium. The historic Burnden Park ground was the scene in 1946 of a disaster in which 33 fans were crushed to death, which led to the first official inquiries into stadium safety; since 1997 the club has played at a modern stadium in Horwich, on the edge of town. Bolton is also the home town of the comedian Peter Kay, one of the best loved in the UK, and of the boxer Amir Khan, a world champion.

Around Bolton

• The West Pennine Moors, with paths, reservoirs and the Winter Hill television mast.
• Turton Tower, a medieval tower house with Jacobean interiors, and Jumbles country park, with a reservoir and woodland walks.
• Manchester, twenty minutes by train, with its museums, football and nightlife.
• Wigan, with the canal pier made famous by George Orwell's book The Road to Wigan Pier.
• Ramsbottom, a small town with the East Lancashire Railway steam line.

Living in Bolton

Bolton has an economy based on services, retail, logistics, healthcare and the University of Bolton, and benefits from being close to Manchester, which many residents reach by train every day. Homes cost much less than in the city, and the hills are minutes away. The town is multicultural, with a large community of Indian, mainly Gujarati, and Pakistani origin. Some neighbourhoods have low incomes, and the centre is the focus of a regeneration project.

Getting there and getting around

• By train: from Manchester about twenty minutes, with frequent trains; direct services to Preston, Blackpool and Manchester Airport.
• By air: Manchester Airport is about half an hour by car and has direct trains to Bolton.
• By car: the town is close to the M61 and M60 motorways.
• In town: the centre is walkable; buses serve Smithills, Hall i' th' Wood and Rivington, but a car is handier for the hills.

For travel around the rest of the country see trains and transport, and for other cities British cities.

Tips for your visit

• How long: one day for the centre and museums; an extra half day for Rivington and the moors.
• When to go: May to September for the hills and gardens; all year round for the museums.
• A tip: for the climb to Rivington Pike wear comfortable shoes and bring a jacket, as the wind on the hills is strong even in summer.

Bolton on the map

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